2 Disposition by courts

(1) Outline
  Fig. 3-1-3-4 shows the number of foreign nationals convicted in the court of first instance (only at district courts and summary courts; hereinafter the same in this section) and the number of such foreign nationals who were accompanied by interpreters or translators in courts, over the last 10 years.
  The number of foreign nationals convicted for criminal cases and that of such foreign nationals who were accompanied by interpreters or translators in courts in 2007 decreased by 1,494 persons (17.6%) to 6,992 and by 1,406 persons (19.8%) to 5,707 from the previous year respectively. The proportion of foreign nationals to total convicted persons was 8.7% in 2007 (Source: Annual Report of Judicial Statistics, the General Secretariat of the Supreme Court).

Fig. 3-1-3-4  Number of foreign nationals convicted (1998–2007)

  In 2007, the number of foreign defendants (foreign nationals accompanied by interpreters/translators; hereinafter the same in this subsection) finally disposed in the court of first instance was 5,767, and a total of 37 languages were interpreted or translated. Chinese was used most frequently for 1,833 persons (31.8%), followed by Korean for 759 persons (13.2%), Tagalog for 676 persons (11.7%), Portuguese for 499 persons (8.7%), Spanish for 310 persons (5.4%), Vietnamese for 301 persons (5.2%), Thai for 290 persons (5.0%), Persian for 229 persons (4.0%), and English for 227persons (3.9%). The top three languages have been the same since 1998 (Source: The General Secretariat, Supreme Court).
(2) Sentencing
  The suspended execution rate with or without work for foreign defendants in the court of first instance in 2007 was 77.4% (down by 1.8 points from the previous year) and much higher than that for Japanese defendants (58.3%) (up by 0.4 points (id.)). This is because Immigration Control Act violations accounted for 47.4% of foreign defendant cases and the suspended execution rate was extremely high (92.1%). The suspended execution rate excluding the cases for Immigration Control Act violations was 64.2% (Source: The General Secretariat, Supreme Court).
  Table 3-1-3-5 shows the percent distribution of the term of imprisonment with or without work sentenced to foreign defendants in the court of first instance over the last five years.

Fig. 3-1-3-5  Percent distribution of the term of imprisonment with or without work sentenced to foreign defendants (2003–2007)